1.4.1 Discuss the social and economic implications of the installation of new systems.
The social significance must be treated by reference to economic, political, cultural and environmental consequences. These include: effects on employment (resulting in changes to the working environment, retraining and so on); ethical and legal requirements; data storage (preserving privacy, data protection and so on); software users (copyright, software licensing and so on). Also, current trends in computer systems and the consequences of these are important as a social significance of computer systems.
1.4.2 Discuss the social significance and implications of the widespread use of computers in society.
PROS:
Lower Average Cost
The main benefit that is occurred by introducing a new system to work with or instead of the old system, is the forms of cost saving such as reducing the time to get a specific work done, serving a customer in a company, or even security issues in some place.
Easier Communication
The internet allows people to connect and communicate with each other almost instantaneously, which was not possible in the era of snail mail and telegraphs. This also means that news can spread quickly on a massive scale.
Discussion groups and forums are ideal tools for linking individuals with common needs and who live far apart. An experiment in Cleveland provided inexpensive terminals to people with AIDS allowing them to connect to a community network. The experimenters used this network to provide them with information, and decision assistance.
Calculations can be done faster and with fewer mistakes due to the introduction of the digital calculator in the 1970s as well as the Personal Computer in the mid 1980s. Individuals could do complicated jobs like personal accounting on their PC using spreadsheet software, whereas before computers were made available to everyone, an accountant would have to be hired.
Computer aided design and manufacture make better, more precise products than ever before, at a lower cost as craftsmen need not be trained and hired.
Internet banking and shopping increased convenience as it is no longer necessary to walk to the shop or bank. Furthermore, e-commerce increases the quality of life for the physically handicapped.
However, introduction of IT systems has its cons too: CONS:
Loss of work:
Computers replaced many old-system employees (such as accountants, craftsmen etc.) replacing these employees with computers and/or computer technicians as they are often unable to adapt to change, or to gain training in newer technologies. In addition, costs are increased as employees must be trained and training takes time and specialists in the new system for teaching other users of ICT systems.
Moreover, divisions in society between poorly qualified (and less employable) people and better-educated ones are formed because of the introduction of ICT systems. These divisions frequently extend to communities and countries - a country with little ICT development will not be able to do the research necessary for the development of
its industries.
Loss of privacy: Websites like Facebook.com use the information on your profile to bombard you with advertisements. The iPhone uses GPS (Global Positioning System) and GeoLocation in order to send you ads for businesses in your current location. Google street view takes photos of streets so that everyone knows where your house or business is.
Giving e-mail addresses to Facebook and other websites can cause spam to be sent to your address. Furthermore, phishing (sending a fake email in order to steal personal data) and pharming (re-routing a website to another fake website in order to steal personal data) can also be caused. Your personal data can be stolen from government databases, hence your identity can be stolen and used to commit crimes or spend money in your name.
Obesity: The convenience of the internet can cause many to never leave their house and become obese due to unhealthy dieting and lack of exercise.
1.4.3 Discuss current trends in computer systems and the consequences of these trends.
Web 2.0 & Social networking
Web 2.0 means that every user is able to upload his or her own content on the internet. For Example, a facebook user can upload their photos for their friends to see, as well as comment on them, write texts, etc. This means that private information can easily be found out by people we perhaps wouldn't want to share such information with.
Lol cats
A trend which emerged in late 2005. LolCats are simply photos of cats with a text caption, written in poor grammar, over them. Lol Cats bring amusement to all.
File Sharing
Music and other files can be downloaded from the internet at no cost, violating copyright law. Consequences - music is available to everyone, however, at a large penalty if caught.
E-mail
E-mail is the most basic of the Internet features and many will argue the most valuable. Internet e-mail allows for the exchange of electronic mail messages between two or more people. These messages may contain anything from simple text to formatted documents, a multimedia video clip or even an executable file.
RSS and similar
The newest craze to hit the Internet is "Push Technologies." These are applications which "push" data from the server to the client at regular intervals. The first of these was called PointCast. PointCast will retrieve magazine and newspaper articles, stock quotes and weather reports that you select at defined intervals. It will then display these on your screen when your computer is idle. Since this is seen as a great way to distribute commercial information, several other companies have joined in with their own version of push technology. This is not without cost to the user. Most of these documents are graphics intensive and can take a long time to retrieve with all but the fastest modems.
OMG an RSS feed!!
Best content in StJulians_ComputerScience | Diigo - Groups
1.4.1 Discuss the social and economic implications of the installation of new systems.
The social significance must be treated by reference to economic, political, cultural and environmental consequences. These include: effects on employment (resulting in changes to the working environment, retraining and so on); ethical and legal requirements; data storage (preserving privacy, data protection and so on); software users (copyright, software licensing and so on). Also, current trends in computer systems and the consequences of these are important as a social significance of computer systems.
1.4.2 Discuss the social significance and implications of the widespread use of computers in society.
PROS:
Lower Average Cost
The main benefit that is occurred by introducing a new system to work with or instead of the old system, is the forms of cost saving such as reducing the time to get a specific work done, serving a customer in a company, or even security issues in some place.
Easier Communication
The internet allows people to connect and communicate with each other almost instantaneously, which was not possible in the era of snail mail and telegraphs. This also means that news can spread quickly on a massive scale.
Discussion groups and forums are ideal tools for linking individuals with common needs and who live far apart. An experiment in Cleveland provided inexpensive terminals to people with AIDS allowing
Calculations can be done faster and with fewer mistakes due to the introduction of the digital calculator in the 1970s as well as the Personal Computer in the mid 1980s. Individuals could do complicated jobs like personal accounting on their PC using spreadsheet software, whereas before computers were made available to everyone, an accountant would have to be hired.
Computer aided design and manufacture make better, more precise products than ever before, at a lower cost as craftsmen need not be trained and hired.
Internet banking and shopping increased convenience as it is no longer necessary to walk to the shop or bank. Furthermore, e-commerce increases the quality of life for the physically handicapped.
However, introduction of IT systems has its cons too:
CONS:
Loss of work:
Computers replaced many old-system employees (such
Moreover, divisions in society between poorly qualified (and less employable) people and better-educated ones are formed because of the introduction of ICT systems. These divisions frequently extend to communities and countries - a country with little ICT development will not be able to do the research necessary for the development of
its industries.
Loss of privacy:
Websites like Facebook.com use the information on your profile to bombard you with advertisements. The iPhone uses GPS (Global Positioning System) and GeoLocation in order to send you ads for businesses in your current location. Google street view takes photos of streets so that everyone knows where your house or business is.
Giving e-mail addresses to Facebook and other websites can cause spam to be sent to your address. Furthermore, phishing (sending a fake email in order to steal personal data) and pharming (re-routing a website to another fake website in order to steal personal data) can also be caused. Your personal data can be stolen from government databases, hence your identity can be stolen and used to commit crimes or spend money in your name.
Obesity:
The convenience of the internet can cause many to never leave their house and become obese due to unhealthy dieting and lack of exercise.
1.4.3 Discuss current trends in computer systems and the consequences of these trends.
Web 2.0 & Social networking
Web 2.0 means that every user is able to upload his or her own content on the internet. For Example, a facebook user can upload their photos for their friends to see, as well as comment on them, write texts, etc. This means that private information can easily be found out by people we perhaps wouldn't want to share such information with.
Lol cats
A trend which emerged in late 2005. LolCats are simply photos of cats with a text caption, written in poor grammar, over them. Lol Cats bring amusement to all.
File Sharing
Music and other files can be downloaded from the internet at no cost, violating copyright law. Consequences - music is available to everyone, however, at a large penalty if caught.
E-mail
E-mail is the most basic of the Internet features and many will argue the most valuable. Internet e-mail allows for the exchange of electronic mail messages between two or more people. These messages may contain anything from simple text to formatted documents, a multimedia video clip or even an executable file.
RSS and similar
The newest craze to hit the Internet is "Push Technologies." These are applications which "push" data from the server to the client at regular intervals. The first of these was called PointCast. PointCast will retrieve magazine and newspaper articles, stock quotes and weather reports that you select at defined intervals. It will then display these on your screen when your computer is idle. Since this is seen as a great way to distribute commercial information, several other companies have joined in with their own version of push technology. This is not without cost to the user. Most of these documents are graphics intensive and can take a long time to retrieve with all but the fastest modems.
OMG an RSS feed!!
Best content in StJulians_ComputerScience | Diigo - Groups